1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a buffer storage unit for temporarily storing ceramic articles and blanks which have a substantially plate-like configuration.
More specifically, the invention is concerned with such a unit which comprises means arranged to receive and store quantities of ceramic articles for any selected period of time, even an extended one, and greatly simplified means of loading and unloading such articles.
2. Prior Art
A ceramic article buffer storage unit according to this invention is typically useful in glazed tile and the like manufacturing plants, where some apparata--typically baking funance(s)--are operated on a continuous basis for 24 hours a day and 7 days a week excepting for maintenance breaks, while other sections of the plant are only operated during work time hours, and in all cases on an intermittent basis. Such plant sections may be both upstream of a furnace, such as devices for forming and preparing blanks for baking, and downstream of it, such as means of checking and selecting articles, etc.
Accordingly, it is common practice to provide in such plants so-called "storage units", which comprise in practice means or containers wherein the articles and/or blanks can be stored and kept during the time periods when the intermittently operated equipment are inoperative. Since the storage units are required to accommodate and keep stored therein even quite large quantities of articles (in such circumstances as prolonged periods of inactivity, holidays, service stops, etc.), they usually take the form of plural containers which can be moved along a feed-in line, or so-called "carriages", and of a device for loading and unloading articles to/from the carriages.
Carriages generally include frames forming a plurality of stacked planes to/from which the articles (hereinafter called "tiles" for simplicity) can be placed and removed, the planes being defined by horizontally extending bar elements supported on pairs of vertical upright attached to the carriage bearing frame.
The tiles are loaded and unloaded by means of devices which include a plurality of carrier rollers adapted to be inserted through vertical openings of the carriage containment area and adapted to be moved in a vertical direction to load the tiles onto (and unload them from) the carriage supporting decks.
Known in the art are several types of tile buffer storage carriages. In particular, there are known carriages of the so-called "flutter" type having an open end and a load bearing frame of substantially "double C" configuration open at the front to receive the rollers. While such carriages, which are usually provided with stiffening arrangements and/or trim adjusting devices, are quite effective to perform their intended function, their construction is relatively complex and expensive.
Also known in the art is a tile holding carriage having a simpler construction bearing frame of the "fixed" end type, which comprises bar elements laid downwardly around the carriage. However, this prior carriage has the serious disadvantage of requiring the provision of rollers of its own which are permanently accommodated in vertical spaces on the carriage within which the rollers can be moved up and down to load and unload the tiles, the rollers being controlled through a translatable loading/unloading device relative to the carriage. This aggravates the complexity and costs involved in making such a storage unit.